BLAST has announced that the group stage of its forthcoming BLAST Open Season 2 will become an online event, with the decisive finals hosted live in London’s OVO Arena Wembley. Taking place from September 5–7, the LAN stage will comprise the top three teams from each of the two groups of online play.
The move to take the group stage online is a departure from the structure employed at the first BLAST Open of the year. Earlier, BLAST held its group games at the Copenhagen Studios prior to taking the top six teams to Lisbon for a live playoff stage. The reason behind the change, whether it is logistical, budgetary, or competitive, has not been publicly mentioned by the organizers.
Some players pointed out that the change affects Valve Regional Standings (VRS), essentially making what used to be an open public LAN opener turn into a closed online qualifying tournament. The online mode gives gravity to these matches, making them critical in shaping which teams qualify for the Wembley finals.
As soon as the group stage is over, spectators will automatically anticipate BLAST Rivals, which is bound to be the sole complete LAN event halfway through the season. Scheduled for November 10–16 at Hong Kong’s AsiaWorld‑Arena, Rivals will host eight teams competing entirely on-stage.
The Season 2 group stage online is set to take place on August 27. Sixteen teams will compete, twelve will qualify directly through Valve’s VRS rankings, and the last four spots will be secured through BLAST Rising regional competitions in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia.
Ahead of Valve’s reforms to tournament formats in 2025, BLAST went the whole way with an open-circuit model. All Open has sixteen teams: twelve ranked highest by VRS and four regional qualifier teams. Combining double-elimination brackets online with big-stakes LAN finals is now BLAST’s trademark.
Prize pools across events have remained consistent, with each Open offering around $400,000. The finals in London follow this model, matching earlier iterations, while BLAST Bounty tournaments (held in Rome and Malta during this cycle) award $500,000.
This calendar ensures global esports engagement year-round: major European LAN finals in mid-year, a peak LAN event in Asia this November, and online stages that feed into those showdowns.